1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of snow shovels and in particular to the snow shovel scoops.
Snow shovels have a distinctly different purpose from other types of shovels or spades. The difference is dictated by the material which is to be handled by the particular tool. While regular shovels are designed for work with relatively heavy particulate material, snow shovels have to handle often very light, fluffy snow. The principal task of a snow shovel is to allow scraping the surface of a driveway, sidewalk or the like free of snow which task necessitates the structure allowing as wide a strip as possible to be cleaned at a single pass. The ease of regular shoveling in the sense of lifting and moving the material is of a secondary significance even though it is far from being insignificant. This, in turn, results in a basic structural difference between the show shovel blade and the blade of other shovels, namely the ratio of the width of the blade to its length. Snow shovel blades are normally of a width which is substantially greater than the length.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows a snow shovel as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,153. It has a flat, planar scoop 10 of a generally trapezoidal outline and is formed with a forwardly disposed work-engaging face 11 and a rear section 12 to which is fixedly secured a handle 13 at a mounting bracket 14 which is integral with the rear section 12. The leading edge 15 and the trailing edge 16 of the shovel shown in FIG. 1 are both bent away from the plan of the main portion of the front face 11 of the shovel. When viewed from the standpoint of the present invention, the disadvantage of this shovel is mainly in that a substantial spill at both sides of the shovel is likely to occur and that the capability of the shovel to accumulate a substantial volume of snow on the scoop itself is also hampered due to the planar arrangement of the shovel scoop. Therefore, the scoop is most likely to provide a spill not only on the sides of the shovel but also over the trailing edge 16 before a reasonable volume of snow has accumulated on the surface 11.
FIG. 2 which corresponds to the arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 3,078,604 (Neuman) presents an improvement over the first mentioned prior art reference in that the scoop 17, to which a handle 18 is secured, displays a concave curvature in longitudinal direction. This curvature aids the accumulation of snow during the shoveling and in most instances effectively prevents the spill of snow over the trailing edge 19 of the scoop. However, the disadvantage of the spillage of snow at both opposed side sections 20, 21 is still present.
Attempts have been made in the art of snow shovels to limit the spillage at the sides sections of the shovel scoop. An example of the known solutions is presented by U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,744 issued to Bonnes. Shown here in FIG. 3, the shovel scoop 22 is provided with a continuous upwardly directed flange having a first portion 23 disposed at one side of the scoop, a second portion 24 at the trailing end of the scoop and a third portion 25 at the opposed side section of the scoop 22. The flange 23, 24, 25 is only marginally effective since the arrangement of the front face 26 is generally planar despite a number of reinforcing ribs such as rib 27. The reinforcing ribs prevent the snow moving transversely on the shovel and thus prevent heaping of the snow in the centre of the shovel to inhibit spilling. Accordingly, the avoidance of spillage by this third type of a snow shovel is also merely marginal as the shovel in effect presents only a very minor improvement in handling of snow when compared with the arrangement of, say, FIG. 1.